Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described herein are not prior art to the claims in the present application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
In a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical communication system, information is carried by multiple channels, each channel having a unique wavelength. WDM allows transmission of data from different sources over the same fiber optic link simultaneously, since each data source is assigned a dedicated wavelength component, or channel. The result is an optical communication link with an aggregate bandwidth that increases with the number of wavelengths, or channels, incorporated into the WDM signal. In this way, WDM technology maximizes the use of an available fiber optic infrastructure; what would normally require multiple optic links or fibers instead requires only one.
Some WDM networks use WSS devices to dynamically route wavelength channels from a source to a destination. WSS devices often rely on wavelength manipulation elements such as liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) devices or micro-electromechanical (MEMS) mirror arrays to perform the routing.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.